Category Archives: Headlines

Summer Junior Highlights

Trinity Moshi won the GU15 draw at the 64-draw Dutch Junior Open. Leading up to the final, she won all her matches in three games, then prevailed in a five-game thriller over the top Dutch player. Akaisha Bhatia scored the best finish among NCS juniors at the season’s first Junior Championship Tournament (JCT), in Connecticut in August, by reaching the GU17 semis. Akaisha also won the Virginia Gold in GU19 earlier this summer. Playing in an older age division, Isabella Tang took 9th place in GU19 at the JCT and Rohan Gondi, who also won the Racquet Up Detroit Summer Junior Gold, placed 6th in BU19. Zack Ingber took 9th in BU15. Trinity Moshi won the GU17 draw at the Southeast Regional Junior Gold, and Christian Keng won BU17. Sami Garside, Zack Ingber, and Kian Patnaik finished third in BU19, BU17, and BU15, respectively. Several NCS juniors notched personal bests there, including … Continue Reading ››

Jeremy Barnes Memorial Tournament Results

The annual Jeremy Barnes Memorial Tournament honors one of our favorite players who brought joy, humor, and a great passion for the game of squash. In a typical Jeremy Barnes match, there were at least three dives for shots out of his reach (and sometimes in his reach). He played in many local and national junior and adult tournaments and was a five-time NCS junior award winner. He then went on to make the varsity team at Drexel University, one of the top teams in collegiate squash. Be sure to put this tournament on your entry list for next September. It's played at the Chevy Chase Athletic Club on the weekend closest to his September 15 birthday, so the next one will be September 12-14, 2025. Over 50 players competed in this year’s tournament. In the top draw, 6.0, after coming back to defeat Zack Ingber in a five-game semifinal, Sergio Lopez … Continue Reading ››

NCS Inter-Club League Wraps Successful Season

The NCS inter-club league recently completed its spring/summer season. Eight teams from DC, Maryland and Virginia competed in a division for players ranked up to 5.0, while six teams participated in the 4.0 grouping. More than 135 players participated in more than 100 matches during the season. The B team from perennial contender Regency (McLean OneLife) took the title in the 5.0 division, winning in the final over its intra-club rival Regency A. Bethesda won the 4.0 championship for the first time since 2019. After a short break, the fall/winter season will kick off in October and run through March 2025. We are speaking with some clubs interested in rejoining both existing divisions, and are exploring adding a pilot division with a few teams to start for players with rankings up to 3.0 to get newer players involved in competitive matches.

Flurry of Professional Squash Activity in Our Region

Our region has kicked off 2024 with tons of Professional Squash Association tournament activity.  Here is a quick snapshot of all the great tournaments that have occurred so far this year: Jan 5-7, 2024: Squash Inspire PSA Satellite Series 1- Winner: Tayyab Aslam (PAK), Runner Up; Abdul Malik (PAK) Jan 23-27, 2024: Squash Inspire Women's Open 2024 - Presented by Expression Networks and Play Squash Academy - Winner Nardine Garas (EGY), Runner Up: Caroline Fouts (USA) Feb 2-4, 2024; Squash Inspire PSA Satellite Series 2 - WInner; Tayyab Aslam (PAK), Runner Up; Omar Elkattan (USA) Feb 9-11, 2024: Squash on Fire Wild Card @ The University Club - Winner (W); Menna Walid (EGY), Runner Up (W) Alina Bushma (UKR) Winner (M) Muhammad Asim Khan (PAK), Runner Up (M) Ashab Irfan (PAK) Feb 14-18, 2024: Squash on Fire Open 2024; Winner (W) Amina Orfi (EGY), Runner Up (W) Tinne Gillis … Continue Reading ››

Seventeen NCS Juniors Gain Entry to the U.S. Junior Squash Championships

The U.S. Junior Squash Championships is the top USA Junior tournament, and it’s open only to the leading 32 US citizens in each age group. Merely being selected for this tournament is one of the highest honors possible for a junior squash player. Congratulations to all 17 NCS juniors who gained entry to this prestigious event! This is one of the largest, if not the largest, number of NCS juniors who have qualified for the tournament. Listed below are those who have gained entry to the tournament and their current position on the cut list. The final seeding of the tournament is randomized after the top four positions. GU15 Isabella Tang, 3 Trinity Moshi, 6 Shreya Vadlamani, 29 GU17 Calla S Yim, 8 Akaisha Bhatia, 11 Makeda Moshi, 16 Caroline Burg, 27 Khadija Elhaddad, 30 GU19 Elise Kang, 11 Indira Moshi, 25 BU13 Eric Tang, 9 BU15 Zachary Ingber, 14 Kian Patnaik, 27 BU17 Christian Keng, 29 BU19 Nathan Rosenzweig, 6 Daniel King, 16 Lucas Bitar, 32

Ingber Takes NYC Gold Title, Several NCS Juniors Notch Personal Bests in Gold Tournaments

Gold tournaments are the highest level of junior regional tournaments, and only one Gold tournament is scheduled in the USA on any given weekend. Zachary Ingber notched his first BU15 Gold title last month at the Baird E Haney Junior Gold in New York City. Inigo Jordan set a then personal best third-place BU15 finish at the same event. Caroline Dupree took home an 11-12 finish in GU17, matching a personal best. At the Calvert Junior Gold last weekend, Akaisha Bhatia, Inigo Jordan, and Christian Keng posted the highest finishes by NCS juniors by reaching the GU19, BU15, and BU17 finals. Christian dropped just one game on the way to the final, which he lost by scores of (4), 8, (8), (13). He set a personal best BU17 finish. Inigo, one of the most rapidly improving juniors in the nation, notched yet another personal best with his appearance in the final. The semifinal … Continue Reading ››

NCS Students Compete in the 2024 College Team Championships

Liam Rotzoll, playing #5 and #6 for Harvard as a senior, helped the Crimson finish fifth nationally. He racked up eight wins and just six losses during the season. With junior Emma Wolf playing #7 for the University of Pennsylvania, the team finished sixth in the tournament, resulting in an end-of-season national ranking of sixth. She recorded an eight win, seven loss season for the team. First-year Maria Arseniev held down the #2 ladder position for Tufts, which competed in the top-12 division at the National Collegiate Team Championships. First-year Rohan Bhatia was a reserve player at the championships for the Tufts men's team, which also competed in the top-12 division. He recorded four wins in eight matches for the team's in-season matches. In just its third year with varsity status, Georgetown won the women’s title in the College Squash Association (CSA) Divisional Team Championships. This tournament is for Women’s Varsity Teams ranked 13-32 … Continue Reading ››

The Potomac School Girls Take 3rd in Division III at the 2024 US High School Squash Championships

The Potomac Girls recorded the highest finish among teams from our district with their third-place division III finish at the High School Squash Championships in Philadelphia, equivalent to a national ranking of 35th. The event is the largest squash tournament in the world, attracting over 1500 players and over 200 teams. Congratulations to all seven Potomac starters: Sophia Calkins (#1), Haley Coon, Meera Vadlamani, Harper Kelly, Anya Aggarwal, Isabella Song, and Samantha Krilla. The Potomac Boys scored the highest finish among boys teams from our district, taking 10th place in Division IV. National Cathedral School sent a girls’ team for the first time. Other teams from our district that competed were Bethesda Chevy Chase, Whitman, and Episcopal (boys’ and girls’ teams).

BCC Reaches the Consolation Finals at the 2024 US High School Squash Championships

The Bethesda-Chevy Chase High School team just finished a run to the Division VI consolation finals at the 2024 US High School Squash Championships. Despite being seeded 16th, they gave the number-1 team (The Masters School from Dobbs Ferry, NY) a scare in the first round. Rory O’Hara, Will Harcourt, and Arjun Prabhala all nearly pulled off upsets in five-game matches, and Sohan Kilaru battled hard in a close 3-1 loss. (Teams consist of seven players.) In the next round, the team upset the number-9 seed (Loyola from Baltimore) by a 4-3 score (with Miles Vengrin, Sohan, Rory, and Arjun all winning their matches). In the consolation semifinals, they again upset a higher-seed -- Friends Central from Philadelphia. This win was even more dramatic. In the number-one spot, Miles was down 0-2 in games, and won the next three to win in five. Sohan fell 3-1 to an extremely talented opponent, in … Continue Reading ››